Olympic Team Told to be Low-Key
So the US athletes are being asked to tone down their post-win revelry at the Olympics this year. Apparently flagrant scenes of US pride and patriotism will only anger our
I’m flashing back to the 2000 Olympics when that track star used the American flag as an interpretive garment and showed the world 33 ways to wear the US flag. Let's see... he made it into a turban... a diaper... a toga... a superman cape... and a mink stole.
My personal favorite was when he wore it over his head, like he was the red-white-and-blue ghost of Betsy Ross and ran around the stadium going “Wooooooo!! WOOOO!!” frightening the children. (Aussie kids scare easy) Too bad the world now frowns on such creativity.
Maybe there will be less car bombs if our athletes just let other countries win this year.
Our athletes have likely been told not to take it personally
Martha, come quick. They’re booing the US team!It’s a former member of the US Olympic Committee who is making the rounds and talking to all the US teams and coaches and teaching them etiquette. He says they should be able to celebrate their victory any way they want, but wearing the flag as a skirt and running around the track might be in bad taste. Apparently one athlete responded to all of this by pondering, “Why are you asking us to be so un-American?”
Really? Arabs are such bad sports!
No, it’s a bunch of NATO countries.
NATO? Oh, they’ll let anybody in that nowadays.
Our country’s attitudes about sportsmanship are so odd. We’ve banned doing a jig in the end zone after a touchdown, but using the American Flag as a magic carpet or pretending you’re Dracula with a stars-and-stripes cape is a reason to chant “USA! USA!”
We make our kids shake hands with the other softball team, but how often do you see our national sports heroes do that? It's like they're above it because they're professional.
Of course the reality is that our athletes have nothing to do with the jeers or boos they will receive. This is just the rest of the world shaming some people who are out there representing our country's continuing strive for excellence. They should make no apologies for being the best. And they have no reason to be ashamed.
Even if, at this very moment, there’s a guy in Alabama wondering why NASCAR is not one of the Olympic games.
It is highly likely that our Olympic teams will conduct themselves with style and class -- and they will do us all proud when they receive their medals. And yet, the rest of the world will boo.
Then it will be our turn to be ashamed of them.
posted by "Harold" at 12:07 AM
2 Comments:
I'm glad yu posted that because I really haven't considered the way our athletes would be received in Athens. I suspected that our track team would be met with jeers because of BALCO and THG, but for some reason I never took everything else going on into consideration.
I don't know how I feel about the "toning down" of celebrations...not speaking of the Olympics though. As an avid sports fan I enjoyed a time when the "Icky Shuffle" was a household term, but yet cell phone is the endzone is rather rediculous....but shamefully I must admit, I found the whole Sharpie thing quite funny. It's a fine line athletes have to walk and at times I think it's taken something away. But then I see T.O. do his little pose in the Dallas star (and Dallas is a team I despise) and I get sick watching it. So, I am not sure where I stand. I want to say "keep it in good taste" but that's not clear cut enough.
Anyway, I am rambling on and on. I hope other countries have class enough to traet our athletes with respect. They are not a part of the Bush Administration and should not be treated as such. OK, I am done rambling now.
I hate posturing in sports. "Act like you've been there before" is my favorite sports motto.
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